1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile communications and, more particularly, to a method and system for delivering calling party notifications.
2. Description of Related Art
When a call is placed to a mobile station and the call is not connected, the calling party may receive a pre-recorded message that the called party is unavailable. Additionally, the calling party may receive a message providing the option of leaving a message in the called party's voice mail box. The calling party may then choose to leave a message or not.
In many circumstances, the calling party may urgently need to contact the called party. In this scenario, the calling party may call other telephone numbers associated with the called party, such as a home telephone number and a work telephone number. The calling party, if still unsuccessful, may call other parties, such as family members and friends, to locate the called party. Much time may pass before the calling party eventually contacts the called party.
The called party may have missed the call for a wide variety of reasons. The mobile station may be de-registered or dropped from the wireless network and be unable to receive calls. The called party may turn off the mobile station upon reaching a particular destination, at a particular time, upon boarding an airplane, or for other reasons. The mobile station may be dropped from the network for a variety of reasons as well, such as bad weather, a poor coverage area, and network problems. Additionally, the mobile station may have rung, but the called party may have opted to not answer the call.
In any event, the calling party does not know why the call was not connected. Additionally, the calling party does not know when the mobile station is likely to become available. If the calling party knew that a second call to the called party would likely be connected in a short amount of time, the calling party may try calling the mobile station again, instead of calling other telephone numbers associated with the called party or calling other parties. If the calling party knew that it would likely be awhile before a call to the mobile station is connected, the calling party may wait to place a second call to the mobile station and/or leave a voice mail message.